To Walk Your Own Path
by Son of The Jester
Summary: Freedom and choice, something Louise never knew. Freedom and choice, the virtues that Valentinez lived by. A small change in the flow of fate will have a world changing effect. Watch as Louise the Zero summons an adventurous noble from the other side of her world and witness the impact he has on the future of Halkeginia. OC focus, AU


**This is my take on the whole 'Louise summons someone else' thing. As I stated in the summary, my OC is a noble from an 'undiscovered' part of the world. I won't say too much about his side of the world as I plan on revealing it as the story progresses, but just know that it is vastly different from Halkeginia. This will be AU, as I am replacing a main character with one of my creation and will be expanding the world as a whole. Also, I doubt anyone wants to read a complete rehash of the canon with an OC instead of Saito.**

 **I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think.**

The soft click of a door closing was the only sound in the large and ornately decorated room. A tired and annoyed half sigh half growl escaped the room's sole occupant as he made his way to the desk on the far side of the room. His stride was lethargic and half hearted, he wanted nothing more than to flop onto the overly luxurious bed and sleep the rest of the day away. Alas, his duty dictated he complete his work before he rests. Reaching the desk he sits down and pulls out the materials required in sending official letters to his empire's capital. Staring down at the paper he racks his brain trying to find the right words for his report.

"Damn, I wish Ceres was here. He's much better at this diplomacy shit than I am." With another sigh the frustrated young man begins penning a detailed account of the days meeting. "This is by for the worst punishment I've ever had to endure. All I did was accidentally destroy a priceless artifact; I mean seriously, I find like four of those a month."

Finishing his report the young man walks over to the large bird cage situated next to the window a few feet away from the desk. Unlatching the door he allows the eagle inside to take perch on his arm. Slipping the rolled up letter into the eagle's message pouch he allows it to fly off. With no small amount of desperation he hopes that this letter will end his suffering and allow him to resume his adventurous lifestyle. Walking over to the bed he sits on the edge while thinking of all the cool things he could be doing right now. Falling back he lets out yet another sigh.

 _I beg of you…_

Bolting up he looks around for the source of the voice and is met with a clear lack of a young woman anywhere in his temporary room.

 _My servant who lives somewhere in the universe!_

Servant? He is unquestionably not a servant, though he isn't completely against the idea right now. Not as long as it frees him from this shitty punishment. Wasting no time he leaps from the bed and grabs the bag from next to the door. He knows what a summoning spell sounds like, so he doesn't have much time to gather useful things.

 _Oh sacred, beautiful and strong familiar spirit!_

He wouldn't call himself sacred, there were many women and some men that would agree on his attractiveness, and he was definitely confident in his strength. Coming to a halt in the middle of the room he waited, with a sword in hand a full bag slung across his back, for the spell to take effect and take him to his summoner.

 _I desire and here I plead from my heart!_

"Then don't keep me waiting." He responds with a wide smile on his face. He can hear the sound of several armored men running down the hall, no doubt in response to the massive swell of foreign magic.

 _Answer to my guidance!_

With that a large green portal appears in front of the young man. Hearing the guards come to a stop in front of his room, the young man practically leaps into the portal.

 **Ϯ**

"Please work, please work, please work." Louise quietly whispered to herself. If her summoning spell didn't work her life will be over. She will be expelled from the academy and become a burden on her family. At which point she will either have to be disowned or married off. She is already engaged to Wardes to prepare for her potential failure as a mage.

Watching as the cloud of smoke clears her heart flutters a bit before dropping into her stomach. Standing in the middle of the explosion is a noble; oddly dressed but still clearly a noble, more than likely a foreign one. His clothing was distinctly not of Tristain origin, yet looked to be of higher quality than anything that she or her family owned. On top of that the large, breathtaking jewel that hung from his choker was easily worth a small fortune. Once more she felt a flutter in her heart as she looked at his face, he was quite possibly more beautiful that the jewel she was just admiring. She froze in place as his _silver_ eyes met with her pink ones. Silver eyes are near mythical in Halkeginian; they are hailed as a symbol of ancient power, something only the oldest of Elves posses. She begins to worry about what his reaction to being summoned will be as he starts to walk towards her. She could barely make out the sound of her classmates talking over the sound of her racing heart.

To the side Jean Colbert looks on in apprehension, the mysterious man that Louise summoned not only had silver eyes but clearly pointed ears, though they were still the size of a human's ear. Even the way the stranger moved set Colbert on edge, he moved like a predator stalking its prey. With his eyes set firmly on the petite Valliere, Colbert couldn't help but fear the worst. This man is without a doubt some form of foreign noble and as such can't be taking his current situation well. If he decides to take action against the Valliere family things will turn ugly fast.

As the young man stops a mere foot away from Louise, she is forced to look up at him as he positively towers over her. His height, which she guesses to be about 6'5, combined with his lean muscular frame make for a rather intimidating sight. He crouches down to Louise's eye level and gives her a bright smile, eliciting an equally bright blush from the much smaller girl.

"So, you're the one who summoned me?" His voice, while smooth and kind, was a bit deeper than she expected. Though she was pleased that there was a playful undertone to his speech.

"Y-yes. I am Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere and I summoned you to be my Familiar Spirit. Though I-I wasn't expecting to summon a foreign noble." Her voice was dripping with trepidation and a hint of fear. "I-I'm sure that we can c-clear this up and have you on your way soon."

Seeing a good chance to insert himself in the conversation and hopefully defuse the situation before any potential tension arises, Colbert clears his throat to draw the attention of the two in front of him, along with that of his other students. Before addressing the potential international incident in front of him he turns to the group of very curious students and dismisses them. After a bit of protest and a good bit of sighing, the group levitates themselves away. Turning back to the two responsible for the current unheard of situation Colbert gathers his thoughts before addressing them.

"I honestly have no idea on how to proceed as this is a first for the Springtime Summoning Ritual. Please follow me to the headmaster's office so we may further discuss how to resolve the situation." The recently displaced noble merely nods his head and stands, with Louise following suit. The brief trip to the headmaster's office is filled with silence, though Colbert is more than slightly amused of the wide grin at the sight of new surroundings he sees on the young man's face.

 **Ϯ**

Upon reaching the headmasters office Colbert takes a place standing beside the old man behind his desk, with Louise and the mystery man sitting in the two chairs in front of the desk. After a brief explanation of the situation by Colbert the old man directs his attention at the young man.

"Hello there young one, my name is Myrddin Osmond, but you may call me Old Osmond as everyone else does. May I ask your name?" The wizened mage address his guest in a courteous tone.

"I am Valentinez, but feel free to refer to me as Valen or simply V. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, though it is under rather unusual circumstances" Valen says with a slight chuckle. This causes Osmond to relax, he is glad to see that Valen isn't upset by this turn of events; though the same cannot be said about Louise, as she seems about ready to collapse from the shock of summoning a foreign noble. The stiffness of her posture can't possibly be good for her back.

"Yes, this is rather unusual. As such I am at a loss as to how we should proceed." Osmond replies while stroking his rather magnificent beard.

"An explanation of this 'Springtime Summoning Ritual' would be a good place to start." Valen suggests as he assumes a more comfortable position in his chair.

"Ah, yes that would indeed be a good starting place; I am Jean Colbert a teacher here at the Tristain Academy of Magic." Colbert interjects. "The Springtime Summoning Ritual is a tradition that stretches back as far as the history of Halkeginian. Once a student successfully makes it to their second year they summon a Familiar Spirit to serve them for the duration of their life. The summoning also helps to identify the student's elemental affinity if they don't already know it."

"Other than the oblivious aide in combat what duties do Familiars have?" Valen asks, smiling at the professor's excitable nature. He always enjoys seeing a passionate teacher.

"Well typically they help gather reagents, scout out locations for danger, and anything else they are capable of doing to assist their master." This time it's Osmond doing the talking. They three members of the academy start to get a bit nervous as Valen leans forward and remains silent for several minutes; they are taken back when he suddenly looks towards Louise.

"I think the two of us should retire to someplace private and have a chat about things. What do you think?" He asks with a wink that causes Louise to blush once more.

"T-t-that sounds like a-a good idea. We can head to my room, if that is a-acceptable to you." Louise manages to get out, unsure of how Valen would feel about being alone with a strange girl in her room.

"That's a lovely idea."

 **Ϯ**

Louise is currently on the verge of having a panic attack, since her and Valen sat down at the table in her room nearly 20 minutes ago, Valen hasn't said a word and instead has been staring at her. As she is nearing critical levels of nervous, Valen finally speaks up.

"I have no intention of being your familiar." His words cause Louise's entire world to start crumbling around her. If he refuses to be her familiar she will surely be expelled.

"Y-you have to. I-if you don't I'll be expelled and be labeled a disgrace to my family." Valen's heart stopped for a moment at the pure desperation and despair in the petite girl's voice. Louise stands up abruptly causing her chair to fall over and walks over to Valen. "P-please don't leave, y-y-you're the only thing that I've ever done right. I-I'll do anything you want i-if you stay by my side."

Eyes full of tears and head hung, Louise misses the look of anger mixed with disgust plastered on Valen's face. As her small frame begins to shake with barely suppressed sobs Valen twists himself in his chair and reaches out. Louise is caught off guard as a pair of powerful arms pull her into a gentle embrace. After a few moments she allows her body to relax and melts into the hug, letting the pain flow out of her. The pair stays this way for about half an hour before Louise pushes herself off of Valen. In the middle of wiping her eyes Louise feels a hand land on top of her head and ruffle here hair. Looking at Valen in confusion she can't help but be warmed by his kind smile.

"You didn't let me finish sweetness; I refuse to be your familiar but am more than happy to be your partner." His words combined with the sudden nickname cause Louise's heart to speed up and an unfamiliar warmth to spread through her body. "A familiar is basically a slave and I value freedom above all else in this life. So, as long as you agree to let me choose my path, I have no problem aiding you in yours."

After thinking on his words for a few moments Louise gives Valen a hope filled smile and nods. After all the crying Louise's face is stained with tears and her eyes are puffy, so she walks over to her dresser and uses the bowl of water to clean herself up. Once she has made herself presentable her and Valen complete the _Bind Familiar_ contract, they then head back to Osmond office. On the way over Valen can't help but let out a mental chuckle, if Russ ever saw the runes one his hand he would lose his mind over the great disrespect to his people's heritage. At any rate, he realizes that he needs to do something about the rune's attempted mind control immediately; which leads him to an important quesion.

"Louise, could you please give me a brief explanation of your magic system?"

 **Ϯ**

"So in short: though the two of you completed the _Bind Familiar_ spell, you will be entering into a partnership instead of a traditional master/familiar relationship." Osmond summarizes while looking between Louise and Valen. They both nod. "Interesting, and you're sure this will ease any tension between our country and yours, Valen?"

"Don't worry; any backlash will be fully on me. The partnership was my idea I'm the one who chose to stay here instead of seeking a way to return home." Valen says with a wide smile.

"You seem to be taking this well, are you not concerned with how your family will react to your disappearance. A noble vanishing into thin are is surely a big deal in your country." Colbert voices his concern, which Valen dismisses with a lackadaisical wave of his hand. Thoroughly shocked at Valen's carefree reacting, Colbert decides to focus on things that might bare fruit. "What exactly are your plans for your time here?"

"Well, eventually someone will realize I'm missing and come find me. So I should probably learn as much as I can about your kingdom, which judging from the maps and star charts over there, is on the opposite side of the world that mine is." Valen replies while point to a table a few feet to his right.

"So you recognize the star charts, but the maps are completely foreign to you. Fascinating." Colbert says while adopting a thinking pose. Osmond merely nods his head in understanding, while Louise struggles to accept the existence of an unknown portion of the world.

"I also think studying your system of magic would be a good idea." Seeing Osmond raise an eyebrow, Valen crosses his legs and expands. "Your system of magic is, honestly, very mundane compared to the one found on my side of the world."

"W-W-What, you d-dare call our magic mundane." Louise angrily shouts. It only takes a moment for her to realize she just shouted at a foreign noble and new partner, which causes her clam up once more. Valen just chuckles at her outburst.

"Oh, it really is. Your system consists of four elements, five if you count the lost element of Void, and nothing else. Whereas mine consists of 13 different branches, of which the elements constitute only one branch. Also we have ten elements." This causes the three native mages to nearly choke on their shock and voice their disbelief. "There's Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, Lightning, Ice, Nature, Force, Light, and Dark. Hell, Conjuration is a branch devoted to nothing but summoning."

"Well, it's getting late and we all have much to… think about, so we shall end it here for now. Tomorrow the second year students are being given the day off to bond with their familiars, after that you may start attending class with Lady Valliere. You will also be granted access to the schools library." Osmond decides to end the discussion before things get to be too much for even him to handle all at once. With a smile and a slight bow Valen takes his leave with Louise following not far behind in a state of confusion. By the time the pair returned to Louise's room, said girl regained her senses, if only enough to change into her sleeping clothes.

"If it is alright with you, I'd like to take a walk around the academy. Better to familiarize with my new surroundings as soon as I can." The slight nod from the small pink haired girl was all Valen needed. He bid her a good night and promptly slipped out of the room.

Once Louise was sure he was far enough away, she let out a cry of victory and happiness as she fell back onto her bed. Finally she had done something right and while Valen was a noble he didn't seem to even notice she had ripped him away from his old life. Also if his people had such a variety of magic, then maybe she could learn one of the so called 'branches'. As she drifted off, she couldn't help but hope her future would be much brighter now.

 **How was it? Was it a good introductory chapter? Let me know what you liked or what you thought I could've done better.**

 **With laughs,**

 **SonoftheJester**


End file.
